Influence of Source - Substrate Distance of Cu₄SnS₄ Thin Films Grown by Co-Evaporation

Abstract:

Copper tin sulphide (Cu₄SnS₄) thin films were prepared on glass substrates by the thermal co-evaporation technique by varying the source - substrate distance (SSD) in the range, 10 25 cm at a constant substrate temperature of 400°C. The influence of SSD on the chemical as well as physical properties of as-grown Cu₄SnS₄ films was investigated. The EDS analysis revealed that the evaporated films are stoichiometric at a SSD of 20 cm. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of Cu₄SnS₄ phase in the layers following the orthorhombic crystal structure. The films showed a strong (311) peak as the preferred orientation. The evaluated crystallite size of the films decreased with the increase of SSD. From the SEM analysis, it was observed that needle like grains were distributed on the surface of the substrate and its size decreased with increasing SSD. The energy band gap was estimated using the optical transmittance data that varied in the range, 1.25 1.34 eV with the change of SSD.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 768)
• Pages: 103-108
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.768.103
• Online since: September 2013
• Authors: Vummadi Prapulla Geetha Vani, Minnam Reddy Vasudeva Reddy, K. T. Ramakrishna Reddy
• Keywords: Cu₄SnS₄ Films, Stoichiometric, Thermal Co-Evaporation

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